whoadie n. a casual, familiar form of address for a friend. Also wodie, wody. Editorial Note: This term appears to originate in the hip-hop scene of New Orleans, La. Etymological Note: < wardie ‘resident of a political ward’ (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)read more »

Chocolate Gravy 12/05/2016: Say you have an acquaintance you always see at the dog park or the playground. But one night, you run into them at the movies,... [more]

Fickle Finger of Fate 11/21/2016: A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a statement that's fraudulent or bogus, but all the words she can think of sound old-fashioned.... [more]

Stars and Garters 11/14/2016: Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he's also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like "flummox" and "butterfingers." Also, the life's... [more]

Proof in the Pudding 11/05/2016: Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There's an alliterative term for that. And when you're on... [more]

Boss of Me 10/31/2016: If you want to be a better writer, try skipping today's bestsellers, and read one from the 1930's instead. Or read something besides fiction in... [more]

The Cat's Pajamas 12/05/2016: The cat's pajamas, denoting something excellent, arose in the 1920's along with many similarly improbable phrases involving animals and their anatomy or possessions, including the... [more]

by Gaston Dorren 12/05/2016: The book Lingo, by Dutch linguist and journalist Gaston Dorren, is an enjoyable whirlwind tour of languages throughout Europe. This is part of a complete... [more]

Animal Zoomies 12/05/2016: What do you call it when your dog or cat suddenly turns into a blur of fur, racing through the house? Trainers and behaviorists call... [more]

Word For Being Out of Place 12/05/2016: An anachronism is something that's placed in the wrong time period, like a Roman soldier wearing Birkenstocks. But what's the word for if someone or... [more]

Found vs. Establish 12/05/2016: An eighth-grade history teacher from Denton, Texas, is teaching about colonial America, and wonders if there's a difference between the phrases to found a colony... [more]

Think and Grin 12/05/2016: The "Think and Grin" section of Boy's Life magazine has some pretty corny jokes, including one about a parking space. This is part of a... [more]